‘Bixby’ Reference on Samsung’s Website

Fariha Khan

March 16, 2017

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For a while now we have been hearing a lot of buzz about Samsung‘s plan to join the AI race and unveiling a rival to the likes of Google‘s Assistant, Siri, Alexa, and Cortana together with the release of its future Galaxy S8. Its name could be “Bixby” but there could be more about what Bixby really is.

On Samsung Italy’s Privacy page, Bixby sits. The title of the assistant is linked to “voice commands,” that does sound much like something an AI assistant would do. However, the existence of S Voice makes it sound somewhat puzzling. The small paragraph in question follows:

Depending on your model and region, you will be able to tell your Mobile Device to activate certain functions, such as playing songs from a playlist or looking up for something on the web using S Voice. In addition to that, you will be able to control all the operations made with the touch interface using voice commands with Bixby.

If it sounds a bit weird the reason is that the original text in Italian doesn’t sound native. If our understanding is right, it sounds as if Bixby will not be a “traditional” digital assistant, but rather a built-in tool that can help users carry out each action of the touch UI with voice.

You may ask to open an app, and move in it if possible. That’s the minimum what that text’s piece is referring to. But, as per the above, more intricate stuff like directly playing a particular song from a playlist or making a web search would supposedly still be touched by S Voice; would things such as setting reminders or requesting for a joke.

It does sound odd but there may have been some translation mistakes, so don’t trust it all. We are just presenting what that text says. But, having total control on every likely action on your smartphone just using your voice could be great if carried out well.